“We all so willingly record our gains, until the hour that leads us into loss.
Then every single thought is tears and sadness.”
― Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy
“Calm down, Maxine, and let’s think about your strategy for a second,” Ricky told me, but I was far from being calm. “Rodriguez and Alexis know that you’re Lucifer’s daughter and they are trying to create havoc. You also need to think about Summer.”
Deep down I was furious that Alexis had managed to return to the palace. I didn’t think that this could happen. My father had promised to take care of Rodriguez, but he had an uprising on his hands too, so that complicated things.
I was too anxious to establish a full connection with Matilda in case Rodriguez was planning something. After last time my Warlock friend may have taken some extra precautions and it was going to be very difficult to track her down. Right now Alexis didn’t need my daughter anymore, but I could never be sure what she was planning. She was desperate to push Lucifer out of hell, in whatever way she could.
I felt lost all of a sudden, knowing that I pretty much was running out of time. Demons in London were convinced I had killed Arthur, and that was going to cause me a lot of trouble. I was done being invisible.
“So what are they all waiting for? If the royals know I’m the killer, why am I not being arrested?” I asked Cyril, still quite shocked he was back unharmed and still working closely with Rodriguez. Many demons in Beelzebub’s circle had seen him attacking Watchers. It was obvious he helped me escape.
“Royals haven’t got any evidence, only a statement from Alexis. The Queen wants to go through proper channels. Scotland Yard is now involved in your case,” Cyril explained.
“Rodriguez and Alexis are using their demonic abilities to mess around with everyone’s heads,” I said, knowing the royals would need to be convinced I was truly the one that had taken away their prince. They all knew me and they were all aware of the fact I used to be very close to him in the past.
“I should get back to the station. I might find out more there,” Zach announced, standing up. “In the meantime, Max, don’t do anything silly.”
“Silly?” I snapped at him. “I just want to kill that bitch. She’s trying to ruin my life.”
“Maybe, but you need to be smarter than her. She wants you to panic, to make a wrong move,” he added.
I didn’t want to wait around here and discuss what to do next. Alexis was using me and she was still a threat. It looked like my other plans that involved mongrels and my daughter had to wait.
Zachary left shortly, not saying anything else, but I knew he was concerned about my safety. I doubted very much that he was going to find out anything useful. Humans were unaware of what was going on in the palace. Aside from that, now Zach and I were in a relationship. He didn’t have to tell me what he was thinking, because now we were bound to each other, so I was always aware of his emotions.
I took a few deep breaths and sat down in the chair.
“I’m going to break into the palace,” I said, after thinking about it for a while.
“Max, this is—”
“Just listen to me for a second,” I cut Ricky off. “They aren’t expecting me. They want me to panic and hide, because that’s what I had been doing in the past. I need to attack Alexis when she least expects it. She’s just a demon that was healed by royal blood. She might have a few powerful tricks up her sleeve, but my abilities are enchanted by Lucifer’s DNA. I might be a mongrel, but that bitch has no idea what I’m capable of.”
Silence fell upon the group. Cyril looked uncertain and I was already buzzing with excitement, thinking that this was the best plan of action. Arthur had saved our daughter and Alexis needed to pay for taking him away from me. I was too angry to think rationally about this. It was time to act.
“Maxine is right. The palace suspects her, but they are too afraid to act,” Emma backed me, but Ricky looked annoyed.
“I’m not sure that this is such a good idea, Max,” Ricky said. “The palace is riddled with security and everyone knows who you are. Alexis’s magic has advanced. What are you going to do once you get there? You need to bring her out to more neutral ground.” He was worried about me, and that was understandable. At the same time, he knew I couldn’t just sit around or hide. I had done this too many times.
“I used to be the head of security there,” I reminded them. “I know that place like the back of my hand and no one is going to expect to see me in there. Besides, some demons are most likely still on my side. The guards won’t believe anything Alexis told them. They know that Arthur loved me.”
“I don’t know, Max. Alexis is much more powerful than you think; now after she was reborn. Have you thought what would happen if you get caught?”
I was annoyed that Ricky doubted me. We had been through a lot together and I truly believed that this was a good plan. I needed to do this. London was the place where I was born–where I built a life. My reputation mattered and Alexis wasn’t planning to back away.
“Anyway, besides that. Cyril,” I said, turning towards my Asian friend, “what are you even doing here? There were witnesses that saw you helping me escape. Rodriguez must know that you betrayed him.”
“Rodriguez thinks that you put a spell on me, that you forced me to help you. I had a pretty convincing story when I showed up at work two days ago.”
“All right, in that case, Cyril can smuggle me into the palace. Once I find the bitch, I’ll open the gates and take care of her in hell,” I said, rubbing my hands together. Maybe I had no chance to fight with her on earth, but I had an advantage in hell. But my voice of reason reminded me that I had to stop being naive. Alexis was smart and she was being protected too. Even if I could get to her, no one could guarantee that I wouldn’t die too.
“That may work. Rodriguez is desperate to hold on to his position and he still trusts me,” Cyril stated.
“Then, sorted. I’m getting inside the palace and finishing that bitch. Ricky, I need to get some potions. How are your stocks?”
We started discussing the new plan in detail, thinking about everything that could go wrong. I was getting a little distracted, with thoughts about Summer tangling my head.
Cyril laid down the plans of the palace, telling us that Alexis had taken the upper floor. She had Arthur’s blood so she could manipulate the Queen, now that Rodriguez had given her an access.
After a few hours and several empty containers of Chinese food, we decided I needed to enter the palace officially with Cyril. I had to drink several potions in order to disguise my real appearance. This wasn’t hell and I knew that Alexis could sense me otherwise. Ricky, Zachary and Emma were going to play their part too. I was considering calling Nameless and Zara.
My eyes were itching when we locked up the office earlier than planned. Several clients had called, informing Emma that they no longer needed our services. I wasn’t surprised when most of the demons had cut us off. No one wanted to be associated with me anymore. Rodriguez and Alexis wanted to make sure that I didn’t have any allies in the city.
Once Alexis was wiped out and Rodriguez was sent down to the pits, my good name was going to be reinstated. I hadn’t been properly charged yet, and I had to act fast.
Zach had asked me to meet him in the Broken Shoe later on. Cyril agreed we needed to execute our plan tomorrow, but he asked me not to get in touch with him again until then. Ricky had brewed new elixirs and potions while I was away and when I showed up in his apartment later on.
I needed to be ready and well prepared. Lucifer told me that my friends were my biggest assets, so I had organised a meeting with the whole crew later on. I didn’t like getting them involved, but after so many mistakes I thought that I needed all the help that I could get.
Ricky was officially in a relationship with Emma and he wasn’t shy about it. We didn’t even have a chance to talk about it, but a lot must have happened when I was stuck in hell.
They were snogging on the sofa when I walked into the room with the millions of flasks in my arms.
“Oh come on … I’m still here,” I said. I still had no idea how I felt about it. Ricky was a womaniser and Emma was a single mother with a violent ex-husband. This wasn’t a great combination, but this wasn’t my business. I was hoping that they were going to last. My own decisions in the past proved that I was the last person that should give any relationship advice, and I had to admit that Ricky had never looked happier.
I went home shortly after that, picked up a few things and puttered around my old space for a bit. Paul’s pub wasn’t too far from my flat and I was charged with magic walking through the gloomy streets of Brixton. I had been sober and off liquid magic for weeks now. For some reason I hadn’t missed being hungover at all.
I stopped and took out a cigarette outside near the traffic light. I had bought a pack earlier on, telling myself that I needed one. It was a nasty habit, and I knew that smoking in front of a child wasn’t a good idea, but I had to settle my nerves somehow before tomorrow.
“That’s you,” said someone behind me. I turned around seeing two female demons from Astaroth faction. That was one of the circles of hell I didn’t get to visit.
“Move along, ladies. I don’t need this tonight,” I said, before I could think about any other way to handle this new attention.
“You killed him. I heard about you, mongrel girl,” said the dark-haired one and then spit on the ground, right at my shoe. I inhaled the smoke deep into my lungs, trying to stay calm.
“Don’t believe everything you hear,” I muttered. The other female demon was dressed in jeans and leather jacket. She had short red hair and something in her hand.
I continued to ignore them, but the dark-haired one suddenly launched herself at me with her nails and scratched my face. I grabbed her wrists, dropping the cigarette and attracting the attention of other humans. This wasn’t the best place to use my demonic energy, but I had to do something.
“I give you one second to walk away or you’ll be truly regretting this,” I hissed, digging my nails into her skin. My cheek was bleeding and I really wanted to have a drink now.
“Murderer. He tossed you away and you killed him. Mongrels should be wiped off the earth completely,” said the other, backing away. “You’re scum, worse than humans.”
The dark-haired demon was already tapping into her source and I was getting fed up with being the target. The Watchers weren’t around, and that was so typical. I really needed them to see what was going on. I pushed her away, glanced around and created a ball of flaming energy.
“You’ll burn for it,” snarled the dark-haired one and used her magic anyway, not giving a damn about the consequences or the fact that anyone could notice her on the street. Both of them wanted to hurt me; I could see that in their eyes. I didn’t have the time to think about logistics or check if they were under some kind of spell.
I dodged to the side when the wave of magic nearly hit me, burning the ends of my hair. I was bloody done playing by the rules. I tossed the ball toward the girl that went for me with her nails. Then my right leg went up in the air and I hit the first one in the stomach.
Both of them slammed on the ground at the same time. Flames appeared on the side of my neck and I exhaled sharply. Some humans started screaming, running away.
I started walking away, then running towards the pub, as the adrenaline raced through my veins.
Moments later I barged inside the Broken Shoe breathing hard and probably still bleeding pretty badly. Paul was polishing glasses behind the bar, but stopped the second he saw me. A few customers started whispering to each other, looking at me.
“Pour me some magic into the glass. One shot is fine,” I asked, knowing that after that there was no going back.
Paul stared at me intensely, like he was weighing if this was such a good idea. After all I had gone through so much.
Finally he unscrewed the bottle and poured the yellow liquid into a shot glass.
“One. I know you need it.”